Following the recent tradition of holding CBC meetings in excellent birding locales slightly outside the boundaries of the Carolinas, the fall 2006 meeting is scheduled for Savannah, Georgia from September 29 to October 1.

Bald Eagle, Donnelley WMA, CBC winter meeting 2004

Recent meetings in Virginia Beach, Virginia and Augusta, Georgia provided superb birding opportunities just across the border of the Carolinas, as well as an opportunity to explore birding sites new to many. The fall meeting in the Savannah, Georgia area and adjacent southeastern coast of South Carolina promises opportunities to visit old favorites including ACE Basin and Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, both in South Carolina, as well as Tybee Island and Altamaha Waterfowl Management Area in Georgia, among many others. This should be an excellent time for passerine migrants along the coast, and most of the "specialty" birds of the southern South Carolina/northern Georgia coast will be present.

Our host hotel is the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites Savannah Conference Center located at 17 Gateway Blvd., East, Savannah, Georgia 31419. The telephone number is 912-925-2700. There will be 45 King non-smoking and 30 Queen non-smoking rooms available for us. Please use the group code "CBC" when making reservations. The special meeting rate of $79.00 + tax will be offered only until September 15, 2006, so don't wait until the last moment to make your plans!

A wide variety of field trips includes Tybee Island, home of an historic lighthouse and often impressive aggregations of birds; Savannah NWR, home of alligators, waders and flocks of passerine migrants; Bear Island/Donnelly WMA; and the many others listed in this newsletter.

Savannah offers such a variety of natural, cultural, and scenic attractions that attendees to the fall meeting might want to stay an extra day just to explore. The Savannah area offers a travel planner, which can be requested by calling 877-Savannah, or navigating to www.savannahvisit.com on the internet. From seashore birding at Tybee Island to "inland" birding at Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, from historical Civil War forts to lively nightlife, Savannah promises to be a true Southern birding paradise. Hope to see you there!

Guest Speakers

Friday night's speaker will be Sidney Maddock.

Sidney Maddock, Audubon North Carolina's Field Technician on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, will give a presentation on the threatened Piping Plover. Using beautiful pictures, Sid will discuss the interesting behaviors of this rare species and current conservation efforts. Originally trained as an attorney, he now focuses his efforts on the conservation of shorebirds and colonial waterbirds. Sid's work includes the management of Audubon's sanctuary islands near Ocracoke Inlet, where American Oystercatchers, Common Terns, Least Terns, and Brown Pelicans nest. He also has closely followed the National Park Service's management of shorebirds and colonial waterbirds at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. For the last four years, Sidney has suggested ways for the Park to be more bird friendly in the management of off-road vehicles. Sidney is particularly interested in the conservation of Piping Plovers, and has conducted surveys for this rare species on the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts of the United States and the Bahamas. A resident of Buxton, North Carolina, Sidney is an avid photographer of beach nesting birds, and his photographs have been used by Audubon, the National Park Service, Canadian Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Saturday night's speaker will be Adam Kent. Adam will also present a Sparrow Identification workshop Saturday afternoon (See Field trip descriptions).

Adam's interest in nature started when he was a small child. A love of sharing his passion about the natural world eventually led him to pursue Master's degrees from the University of Florida in both Natural Resource Conservation and in Education.

Since 1983, Adam has been leading nature tours to Costa Rica, Canada, Mexico and the Amazon, as well as within the U.S. His experiences living in and traveling throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia have equipped him with a broad understanding of ecological principles, a keen sense of humor and an ability to relate to people of all ages and nationalities. He has led trips for Alaska Wildland Adventures since 2000.

Adam has been especially fascinated with birds his whole life. In addition to conducting bird surveys in Florida for more than 20 years, Adam has written a guide to the shorebirds of Baja California, has co-authored a paper about birds of the Lake Titicaca region of Bolivia, and has reviewed A Birder's Guide to Alaska for the Journal of Field Ornithology. And, most notably, recordings he made in 1991 in southern Mexico led to the description of a new species of bird, the Nava's Wren.

While working for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 2000, Adam developed Bird Detective, a bird-identification activity guide now being used in schools throughout Florida. When not sharing his enthusiastic appreciation of Alaska with others, Adam migrates south to Florida to work as an environmental consultant. Adam's current projects include developing bird lists for Wildlife Management Areas in Florida and helping to develop the Great Florida Birding Trail.